Cheshire East has lost a tribunal after it tried to force a vulnerable Crewe teenager with a massive fear of transport to travel three hours a day so it didn’t have to pay the £23,000 for his residential schooling.

The youngster, who is keen to progress with his studies despite having a number of learning difficulties, has already been forced to leave three high schools because of his behaviour.

He has now been accepted at a special school 45 miles away.

The council fought against paying the £23k for his residential care – the same amount it pays out each year on a Bentley for the mayor – arguing it would cost it no more to send the boy by taxi as one Crewe pupil already attends the school so he could travel with them.

And while the government’s home to school travel and transport guidance states ‘the maximum each way length of journey for secondary school age [is] 75 minutes’, adding for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) a shorter journey time may be desirable, Cheshire East tried to force this teenager with a travel phobia to undertake a 90 minute each way journey.

The council even tried to argue the trip would take 70 minutes, making it below the 75-minute guidance – but this was thrown out by the tribunal, which ruled it ‘will probably take a minimum of one hour 30 minutes at school run times’.

The tribunal ruled the child should have three days residential at the school, as the parents had requested.

That tribunal ruling was made in May, but this week the youngster’s mother is considering going to the ombudsman saying Cheshire East didn’t even tell her there was a post 16 transport policy – which has recently been updated to make parents of SEND children pay £450 a year towards their travel costs.

"The people at Cheshire East are employed to make the lives easier for parents of SEND children, not leave them in the dark,” said the mother, whose identity we have decided not to reveal.

"Nothing was mentioned about the post-16 travel policy at any of our meetings with Cheshire East or to the tribunal panel – despite the whole conversation being around how they get my son to the school. We asked for three nights residential to reduce the stress of the travel and they were fighting against that because of the cost.

"They said if he needed an escort to get to school in a taxi it would cost an additional £20, That’s the only travel cost mentioned. There would not be an additional cost to the council for a taxi because there is one already taking another Crewe student to the same school."

The woman – who has paid the first instalment of the £450 to ensure her son can continue his schooling – said her complaint is not about the money, it’s the fact that Cheshire East didn’t inform her.

She says she has been treated very badly by Cheshire East – which has also failed in its legal requirement to update her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) – the manual detailing his difficulties and his needs.

The council was recently slated by Ofsted for failing a number of families in this matter. All formal complaints by the Crewe family to and about the council so far have been upheld.

The council has acknowledged there has been no update to the EHCP provided by an educational psychologist between 2014 and 2017.

Cheshire East also acknowledges that a Year 9 review to assist the teenager into adulthood was not completed and that his annual reviews had not taken place.

In a letter to the family, Cheshire East’s locality manager said: "On behalf of the local authority I offer my sincere apologies for the experiences you and your family have had in securing appropriate educational provision for [your son]."

He also said: "The local authority fully accepts and recognises the weaknesses that were in the system and has a clear improvement plan and actions already in place."

But the boy’s mum doesn’t agree about improvements being made – and she says the council is still failing her and everything is a constant battle.

“They didn’t tell us about the post 16 travel for those trips he does have to make,” she said, explaining she could not take her son as she has two other children to get to school.”

And, regarding the complaints the council itself upheld about not preparing the boy for adulthood, she says the council has still done nothing to put that right.

The mum added: "They can’t keep failing people like this. Families with children with special needs need their help, that’s why I felt the need to speak out, to tell people what’s really happening."

A Cheshire East Council spokesperson said, in a statement to The Chronicle: “Cheshire East Council does not comment on individual cases, however, we always work hard to ensure that a child’s needs are met within their education, health and care plan.

“We continue to seek to find a solution to the current situation and remain open to working with the family to achieve that.”